


being better

by m3llo_hi



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, M/M, bruiseshipping i guess if you squint, but it's not very explicit, i mean it's in there, old thing i found
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22460524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m3llo_hi/pseuds/m3llo_hi
Summary: Jay is insecure. Cole tells him the truth.
Relationships: Cole & Jay Walker, Cole/Jay Walker
Comments: 1
Kudos: 62





	being better

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of a short thing I whipped up/found lying around in my unfinished docs. I always had this headcannon (and I'm sure many others think it too) that Jay very easily gets insecure about not being good enough for everyone. So, yeah, here's that in text. I wanna say it take place around Season 10 wish? March of the Oni? I could really care less about when this actually takes place because it's not very relative to the story. However, I do like to imagine their movie/new designs.

Cole had just finished helping Kai set up the training dummies.

It was the middle of summer and the entire _Bounty_ was burning to the touch. Cole wondered why Kai would want to train in this weather, but he didn't didn't bother to ask. Not to mention his element was heat, so it probably wouldn't have affected him either way to train in under the boiling sun.

Once the final dummy was put in place, he shook his arms out and stepped back, admiring the set up.

He dragged an arm across his forehead, sweat beading down his face. It hadn't even occurred to him that they had been out here for nearly an _hour_ when it felt like incredibly longer.

Kai reached for the cooler beside the wall and pulled out two ice cold water bottles. He held one out to Cole. "You thirsty?"

Cole gladly swiped it from his greedy hands, eyeing him as he gulped down the water ferociously. When it was all gone, he flattened it from both ends and tossed it back into the cooler for Kai to take care of later.

"I think I'm gonna head in now," Cole told him and headed inside, letting out a breath of awe when he felt the cool air hit him. Opening an eye, he saw Zane in front of him with a fan installed where his hand used to be.

"Ah, thanks, Zane. You're hand okay?" The nindroid nodded with a smile and lowered his arm slightly.

"However, I do have a proposal for you." Cole squinted. "You may want to check on Jay. I passed by his room earlier and I overheard him speaking to himself."

"Huh," Cole noted, "really? How long has he been doing that?"

Zane shrugged. "For about as long as you and Kai have been outside. I made an attempt to get Nya to check on him, but he locked her out."

Cole's lips formed a thin line and he raised a brow. "He locked Nya out?"

"Actually, he isn't letting anyone in."

"Alright, I got this," Cole told Zane with assurance and walked past him. "Thanks for the fan by the way!"

Jay had a habit of feeling less of himself quite often. It was something Cole knew he was going to eventually have to work with the first time he laid eyes on the blue-eyed, scrawny boy. It wasn't unusual for him or anyone to catch Jay with a weird question or a couple tips in hand that told him how to behave.

As Cole approached Jay's room, his eyes flickered to the crack between the door and the floor, checking for the lights. He smirked when he was greeted by a soft yellow light.

Cole stepped up to the door and knocked once but loudly.

He started with a straight up, "Hey, Jay. Open up."

"I'm busy!" Came Jay's voice from the other end.

"Jay, please?"

"You know, I wouldn't mind at all if you left me alone for a bit."

"For _a bit_?"

"For like two hours."

Cole rolled his eyes. He let the palm of his hand rest against the wood of the door, leaning against it heavily. "Come on, Jay, just open the door."

He waited for a couple of minutes before he heard the sounds of Jay unlocking the door. He let a few seconds pass before opening the door and stepping inside. His eyes glanced around the room for anything off place.

"Everything all good in here? Zane told me he heard you talking to yourself, which _isn't_ unusual by the way," Cole spun around, "we're all just a little worried."

Jay sat in the middle of the room on his couch, feet pulled up off the ground and in a cross-legged position. He fiddled with his fingers, avoiding any eye contact with Cole.

"Fine. I'm fine. Shouldn't you be outside helping Kai?"

His friend wandered around the room for a bit, still searching.

"We finished a while ago. I couldn't take the heat." Suddenly, his eyes fell on a stack of books sitting on the couch in a way that looked like Jay didn't want him to see them. Curious, he walked closer and picked up the first book of the stack.

"What's this?"

"Oh, just a book," Jay replied, his voice saddened.

"Just a book, hmm?" Jay looked at Cole with sad eyes but didn't show the slightest bit of anger towards the earth ninja. He relaxed back into the cushion and frowned deeply, looking to the side. " _How to Be a Better Friend_?"

Jay shrugged. "Huh, yeah, kinda… Stupid I guess." His voice gradually became softer as he hugged a pillow to his chest.

"Stupid? It _is_ stupid, Jay. Why are you reading this kind of book?"

He flipped through the pages and stopped midway, skimming over it. "Look at this baloney! 'Make sure to always choose whatever your friend chooses.'" Cole tossed the book to the side and looked to the right of Jay. There was another book sitting on the table. Furious and curious at what that book was an _expert_ on, Cole picked it up.

" _How to Be a Better Boyfriend_? Who gets paid to write these things?" The lightning user shrugged once more. He didn't seem to afford a smile. "Jay, why are you reading this lame stuff? It's not going to help you with anything."

Jay let out a sigh, leaning his head back against the cushion. "Well, I guess I just feel like I'm not good enough for you. I dunno… like I'm not a good friend or something?" He traced circle along the fabric of the couch with his finger.

"I thought you already learned your lesson when you unlocked your true potential. You know, just be yourself?"

Jay shrugged, speechless.

"And you _are_ a good friend." He watched as Jay hung his head back, his eyes halfway closed. "If you feel you need to be a better person, alright, fine. I won't stop you. But reading these books won't help you at all - change starts with _you_."

Jay put a hand to his face and said something Cole couldn't quite hear, hence the hand over Jay's mouth. He pulled the pillow onto his lap and began to trace his finger over it instead.

"But the team…"

"What _about_ the team?"

Another sigh escaped from Jay's lips, "I just feel like you guys expect more out of me."

Cole scoffed. "Excuse me?"

"You, the team, Master Wu."

Cole squinted. Was Jay being serious right now? "Alright, look, you wanna know something? No one cares!"

As if he had been stabbed in the heart, Jay looked up, hurt. "W-what?"

"No one _cares_ if you feel like you have to be "better"... because you don't. At least, _not to me_. No one is perfect, Jay. And even if you feel that way…" Cole bit his lip, "it's hard to change. You know, to change yourself into someone who you think is… _better_."

Jay remained silent.

"Just, hear me out, okay?"

Cole took a seat beside Jay on the couch and rested an arm on the armrest. His eyes fell to the floor where they met with his feet.

"We may not get along like Kai and Lloyd. We'll never be as perfect as Zane and Pixal. And, heck, you may be the craziest person on the team and we _still_ manage to get the work done. But the point is, nothing's the same. You try to change so that you _seem_ exactly the same as someone or something else, but you're not."

Jay hung his head. "Exactly," he looked the other way. "We're not like them."

Cole frowned, leaning over the edge and put his hand over Jay's, causing the blue ninja to turn his head towards Cole in a small effort to listen.

"And _you're right_. We're _never_ going to be exactly like Kai and Lloyd. You and I will _never_ be like Zane and Pixal. And all of us, this _team_ , will _never_ not stop getting tired of you. Because you're you, and no matter how hard you try to change that," Cole squeezed Jay's hand in a comforting manner, "it just won't work."

Jay gave in, collapsing against Cole and resting his head against his friend's shoulder. The two of them were still holding hands, fingers linked together with ease.

"Besides, a try-hard Jay is definitely _not_ the Jay I fell in love with."

Jay snorted. Cole was right. In a way. And maybe he did just need to let it slide. What mattered was what he thought about himself. And he loved himself, wholeheartedly. He loved every flaw, every quirk, and every aspect of his life.

A couple minutes passed where the two of them just sat in silence, simply enjoying each other's company. After a while, Jay heard Cole huff. "So you got any plans for the rest of the day?"

"Heh, no… I was planning to read those books the whole day, but I guess not." He shrugged. "It was silly anyways."

"Well, I'm going to hit the kitchen for some snacks. Maybe raid the fridge or something. Who knows?" Cole chuckled and stood up, starting to leave when Jay stopped him.

"What about you? You doing anything later?"

"No… not that I know of…"

Jay popped a grin. "You maybe wanna play some video games?"


End file.
